Welcome To My Nightmare revisted? Really? And Alice Cooper kicks off this new album using auto tune…it will happen when hell freezes over right? Guess again, only in Alice’s hell can this happen. Yes it’s all true and you have to wonder how this is all going to work out. The king of shock rock is using auto tune on his opening track “I Am Made of You” and this entire album works and in fact this is the best work I have heard from Coop in decades. No kidding, this is a killer album.
Alice does not need auto tune, I think he decided to use it for the effect and bring a modern flair to his new recording. I have said in the past several times that I thought he could not really sing however I was proven wrong after seeing him perform live recently. At 63 the man has plenty of gas left in the tank.
Welcome 2 My Nightmare is the new sequel to the classic original album released in 1975. The key to making this all happen again was bringing in legendary producer Bob Ezrin. Nobody knows Alice better than Bob and when they get together its magic. He brings out the very best in AC and if you look back at his best music, Ezrin was the producer.
I decided to get the fan pack from Classic Rock Magazine. It comes with the deluxe version of the CD which includes two bonus tracks, “Under The Bed,” a good studio track and a live version of “Poison” from the recent Download Festival. You also get an entire magazine dedicated to Alice and the album including some interaction with some of the stars that played on the album, which there are several. The biggest treat is Alice getting together with his old mates from the original Alice Cooper group, Neal Smith (drums), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Michael Bruce (guitar). There is some interesting reading in the magazine and one thing reminded me of the track “Only Women Bleed” and how I was thinking how brilliant the lyrics were and someone mentioned that very point. Yes AC has written some classic songs with well thought out lyrics. This is not something you would expect from a rocker of his ilk but he certainly has done his share over the years.
Welcome 2 My Nightmare is excellent, although it may be hard pressed to match up with the original outing this stands as a triumph for Cooper and Ezrin again. Going back in the studio over 35 years later is no easy task to continue a story so this stands as a sparkling testament to one of the true icons of rock. The instrumentation and production on the album, as the Brits like to say, is totally OTT (over the top). The Coop even does a duet with Keisha of all people. As it turns out it’s a good match up, pop music’s new bad girl doing a give and take with the Prince of Darkness, perfect.
Some of the standout tracks on this diversely stylistic album include the hyper driven rocker “Caffeine,” with pumped up lyrics like “Caffeine, caffeine, amphetamine, a little speed is what I need…” and “A Runaway Train” the AC band reunion track. It has that distinctive 70s rock sound and fits into the scheme of things perfectly. “Last Man On Earth” is another killer track which is explained perfectly in the magazine as “If hell had its own New Orleans jazz band, this is what it would sound like”. AC does his best Tom Waits/Jimmy Durante impression. It’s pure vaudeville and cabaret baby, and only Alice could pull it off. “The Congregation” is an in your face rocker with Rob Zombie wailing away on the six string. The part where they sound like the guards marching into the witch’s castle on the Wizard of Oz is a beautiful touch to make this track more sinister than ever. That is Alice, sinister and evil but funny too. And let us not forget the contributions of Steve Hunter (guitar) and Dick Wagner (guitar, composer) on both of these great recordings. Without that dynamic duo involved the sound would never be the same.
And finally “The Underture” (not Overture) is an instrumental compilation of highlights from some of the best from the original and new Welcome To My Nightmare. But that is not the end if you have the special edition but either way this one is a real keeper. I knew this was going to be a good album, I just did not expect it to be this good. Maybe when Alice is 80 he will put out WTMN 3 the final chapter, you just never know!
This is classic Alice Cooper so Welcome 2 his nightmare all over again.
Key Tracks: Caffeine, A Runaway Train, The Congregation
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-MuzikReviews.com Founder
September 21, 2011